Day 5 | Natsuki has Acupuncture & British Airways suck

This whole week has felt like a series of random often disconnected moments and I could never have anticipated what we did this morning.

Today was the most random day of the trip so far, as my meticulously planned schedule went up in flames (quite literally).

Following on from Natsuki's neck injury following a backwards somersault directly on to his neck, whilst flying elegantly in a wind tunnel, he requested we take him to an acupuncture clinic.

In Japan (and Asia in general), acupuncture and massages are a popular form of treatment, and Natsuki believed it'd help soothe his ruined back (along with the powerful painkillers he'd been given at hospital).

And so we hurriedly booked him into a prominent clinic in London in the morning (the same clinic used by Michael Caine it turned out!), before we were to catch our flight over to Paris in the afternoon.

I'd never seen acupuncture and it was certainly entertaining watching Natsuki have flaming cups stuck on his back and electric needles piercing his skin. Best of all, we were able to film it all - thus turning Natsuki's neck injury into an opportunity to film something awesome we'd never have dreamed up.

For 40 minutes we filmed Natsuki yelping as he was periodically electrically shocked and it was a great way to kick off the morning.

We then packed our bags and headed off to Heathrow airport for our nice short, relaxing flight over to Paris.

Except it wasn't.

About three minutes before we arrived at Heathrow airport, we switched on the radio and heard that all BA flights had been cancelled because of an IT error.

 I didn't believe it at first - and then we drove up the ramp on to the drop off point at departures, and witnessed hundreds of people stood around in piles of luggage swearing and shouting at panicking, confused staff, in a scene reminiscent of a zombie movie.

The doors to the airport terminal were shut and staff were handing out pieces of paper telling everyone that their flights were cancelled, and that in no uncertain terms, they were fucked.

After checking all the flights and the Eurostar, I discovered there was absolutely no way in hell we'd be getting to Paris.

Our plan was in tatters and Natsuki was gutted when I told him his trip to Paris was in jeopardy.

Faced with this depressing reality and Natsuki's disappointed face, I desperately looked around for a car rental company, with the intention of driving all the way from Heathrow to Paris, via the Channel Tunnel, throughout the evening and night.

Three hours and £300 later, at the wheel of a Citreon C5, we were on our way to Paris once again.

Given that it was a French car with left hand drive - the first time I'd driven such a car - I felt pretty nervous and uncomfortable for the duration of the journey.

That said, Natsuki was pleased as he'd always wanted to see the Channel Tunnel anyway, so once again there was an upside to the shitty situation we'd found ourselves in.

After a long and tedious drive in which we nearly crashed at least three times, whilst all the while reflecting on how much we hated British Airways, at around 2am we finally arrived Paris, and promptly collapsed into bed, ready for our first day in France.

(The first teaser trailer for "Natsuki: The Movie" will be featured exclusively on Patreon for you all later this week, featuring highlights from our ridiculous trip so far. Stay tuned folks!)